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Byzantine Jewelry From Gold, Bronze, and Enamel
The Byzantine nobility wore jewelry in lavish profusion. This
practice is evident in the 6th-century mosaic portrait of
Empress Theodora in the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy.
The dress is stiff with gold and set with jewels; pearls,
rubies, and emeralds mounted in gold are worn at the neck and
shoulders and hang in festoons from the temples to the breast.
A common type of Byzantine earring had a crescent shape executed
in gold repoussé openwork with a central cross in a circle
flanked by peacocks. The favorite breast pendant was the cross;
another type was a jeweled pendant. Most finger rings bore
Christian symbols, and the extant examples are more often made
of gilded bronze than of gold. Enamel work, especially cloisonné
enamel, was refined to a high degree in Byzantine culture and
had a strong influence on European jewelry of succeeding
periods. A fine example is the jeweled crown of Constance of
Aragón (13th century, Palermo Cathedral, Sicily).
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